Conversations: Bhupinder
on February 8, 2010
Theme: conversations : family : police : securityKartikey Sehgal
I walk to the theatre and think that it’s not too much to ask for any man. Some security and movie-watching with your family.
“Tell me”, says Bhupinder while manoeuvring his auto-rickshaw through the police barricade, “won’t the terrorist simply take the bus?” A set of three policemen, huddled together, ask for the vehicles to slow down; the bus and heavy transport is let through without scrutiny. “The Police simply adds to traffic woes. In the morning they are on one side of the road and in the evening they are on the other side. That’s duty for them”.
At some distance there’s more traffic and Bhupinder points out to a boy sitting in the adjoining rickshaw. “People like them should be checked”. The boy is clad in shirt and jeans and is wearing several tattoos and chains. It is discriminatory, he agrees, but adds that that is how it should be for state security.
The rickshaw breezes through a Juhu road for some seconds and the change in speed prefaces change in our conversation.
“It’s a very popular theatre of Mumbai. As a child I saw several films there with my family”. We are talking about Chandan Cinema, a popular single screen theatre that has survived the onslaught of multiplexes.
“Those were the days when the ticket was priced at rupee one”. The roads have given way to Bhupinder and he presses on the pedal. “I have also seen films for barah anna. We went to the movies as a family. But the films of the sixties and seventies are not made these days.”
We slither through the turns while avoiding potholes. Bhupinder is close to his favourite theatre.
“Now-a-days we don’t go to theatres to watch films. There’s too much skin show. And we can watch any film on cable. It saves money”. A sigh and then he adds, “taking your family out can set you back by many days. There’s not just that amount of money”.
As I pay the fare, Bhupinder tells me about his son who is set to join the police force. That’s how he keeps tab on the policewallas and security. He invites me to meet him sometime and hang out with him.
I walk to the theatre and think that it’s not too much to ask for any man. Some security and movie-watching with your family.
![[del.icio.us]](http://theyoungindia.com/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/delicious.png)
![[Digg]](http://theyoungindia.com/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/digg.png)
![[Facebook]](http://theyoungindia.com/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/facebook.png)
![[Google]](http://theyoungindia.com/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/google.png)
![[StumbleUpon]](http://theyoungindia.com/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/stumbleupon.png)
![[Technorati]](http://theyoungindia.com/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/technorati.png)
![[Twitter]](http://theyoungindia.com/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/twitter.png)
![[Windows Live]](http://theyoungindia.com/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/windowslive.png)
![[Email]](http://theyoungindia.com/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/email.png)
Comments
I really dont understand these posts of urs..o.O:D
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
[Reply]
liked the post- and the low voice.
Let me check if i got it right: i see how we are worried about bombs, and how we want to get on with our lives. This could have been loud and hysterical- but by taking an individual and listening to what he has to say, and revealing how anxiety about security has meshed into our daily lives in his quiet, life-is-like-this-only-voice- you’ve done it great.
One has to get used to this sort of writing, getting all opinionated and coming out loud is the usual way we do it- but people are not like that- our life is not like that.
When you write this way, we get a sense of what life is- the disparate elements fall into place, so to say.
Good work, honestly.
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
[Reply]
Yes, life is becoming difficult and expensive.
I have seen movie at Chandan at Rs 2.50
.-= B K CHOWLA´s last [story] ..T-I-N-A =-.
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
[Reply]
neither do I
I write them at night when I am sleeping
~Shoaib~
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
[Reply]
I like how your feedback reads baskar. the waves shimmer under the distant noon sun.
if you are here, which year was it rs. 2.50.
~B K Chowla~
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
[Reply]
mirage?
why?
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
[Reply]
the setting, the pace…
blame your feedback [smiles]
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
[Reply]